Not enough info. You didn't tell us your complete financial picture including screen shots of your expected 2017 tax return. Basic things like are you filing married or single etc etc.

OTOH, you can convert all you want and then recharacterize some of it back to your tIRA before October 2018, so it really doesn't matter what our answer might be.

And I can tell you that my earned income will be less than $5,000 for 2017. I will contribute the legal maximum of that to my 401(k), that is, almost all, but not quite all, of it. I won't do any Roth conversions, but I have completed all possible conversions for myself. However, my spouse will be continuing to do Roth conversions. How much? Lots. And no, I will not post screen shots of our tax return.

Add up standard deduction, personal exemption(s) and tax brackets for your marriage status. Subtract out the $5k of income and interest/dividend income to figure out how much you have left to fill up the 15% bracket.

squeat wrote:Add up standard deduction, personal exemption(s) and tax brackets for your marriage status. Subtract out the $5k of income and interest/dividend income to figure out how much you have left to fill up the 15% bracket.

If you want to get really close to the top of the 15% bracket without going over it, or just really close to top of 10% bracket, I suggest you get a last year's real tax program (such as Turbo Tax or H&R Block-some should be really cheap now) and run the figures more exactly. There could be lower-income credits you are eligible for (may depend on age) that Taxcaster does not account for. Health care subsidies depend on AGI income and Taxable Income, IIRC.

It also is important to know your approximate age and the amount you have in a trad. IRA. It might not make sense to convert if you don't have the extra cash or taxable account to cover the taxes. Yes, that could be taken out of the conversion, but then you would be lowering your investment total, and there would also be a 10% penalty for taking it out before you are old enough. What are you living on?

So you see, it may not be a simple problem since we don't know your situation. You may want to stop at top of 0% bracket, 10% bracket, or 15% bracket. Those % show what you have to pay to do a conversion.

You will have to fill out Form 8086 (real tax program should do this) for a Roth conversion, and send it in with your taxes. Otherwise you would owe a penalty on early withdrawal, if you are under 59.5 years of age.

Not enough info. You didn't tell us your complete financial picture including screen shots of your expected 2017 tax return. Basic things like are you filing married or single etc etc.

OTOH, you can convert all you want and then recharacterize some of it back to your tIRA before October 2018, so it really doesn't matter what our answer might be.

And I can tell you that my earned income will be less than $5,000 for 2017. I will contribute the legal maximum of that to my 401(k), that is, almost all, but not quite all, of it. I won't do any Roth conversions, but I have completed all possible conversions for myself. However, my spouse will be continuing to do Roth conversions. How much? Lots. And no, I will not post screen shots of our tax return.